[Harp-L] Re: Overblows in the blues - check this out

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jerome writes in regards to overblows and tone:

"Doing the same thing in the same position, you can have of course  
exactly
the same tone."


Except you aren't "doing the same thing".  When you bend a note,  
overblow a note or are playing the given notes you are doing three  
different things and there are noticeable tonal differences between  
the three.  Indeed, not only are you doing something different with  
your oral cavity to play these three types of notes, the reeds  
themselves are behaving in three different ways.  That's why you can  
tell just by listening to a record what notes are bends, what are  
given notes and what are overblows.

Note, this difference is not a bad thing per se, the exploitation of  
the tonal difference between bent notes and given notes is a defining  
feature of blues harmonica, for example.  And, there are two things I  
am differentiating here: personal tone (which tends to be  
recognizable across technique) and timbral differences between  
techniques as outlined above.




JR Ross